Almost everyone these days uses some type of social media, where they can say whatever they like, whether it is the President of the United States, Donald Trump, saying he wants to go to war or the #metoo movement, where men and women share their stories of how they have been sexually abused and support one another. Social media can be used to express oneself or just for fun. Not everyone uses it the correct way though.

The First Amendment allows us to voice our opinion within reason without punishment. Social media is a great way to do that. Twitter has millions of users and anyone is able to join with a few clicks of a button. We are free to send out a 280 character tweet saying whatever we want. There comes a time, though, where it goes too far.

On any social media platform there are a few hundred bigoted, ignorant people, or someone just looking to start trouble for fun. In Yair Rosenberg’s 2017 article, Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter, she speaks of “internet trolls” who create fake accounts impersonating minorities such as Jewish, African-American, and Muslim people and then tweet racist statements. Even our President has posted racist and hateful statements, including one on November 25, 2014 “Sadly, because president Obama has done such a poor job as president, you won’t see another black president for generations!”

In November of 2014 The New York Times Magazine reported, that most death threats or general threats go unpunished. If a person were to go up to another human being and threaten his or her life, that person’s right to freedom of speech is normally revoked, and rightfully so.

In a case between Anthony Elonis and his ex-wife, where he was threatening her and her family’s safety on Facebook, the jury was told to make its decision based off of whose point of view they choose to see it from. The ex- husband commented on one of his ex-wife’s pictures saying how the child in the picture should be matricide for Halloween. He also said multiple times that he wished he could kill her. The man claimed that it was “how he deals with the pain over the loss of his wife.” Many people can claim they are joking or it is just a way to deal with pain as long as they do not act on it because their hate speech is protected under the First Amendment.

What Anthony Elonis posted was not illegal and there are many others who express their hate through social media. While they technically cannot get in trouble for that, it is still dangerous because we never know what is going on in someone’s life and it might push the victim to harm themselves or bigots to harm others.

The magazine also said “if the Supreme Court requires evidence of a speaker’s intent to harm in true threat-cases, it could give the police and prosecutors one more reason not to bring them.” The police cannot legally arrest someone for saying that they wish they could hurt another human being or for a threat that is not carried out. Bringing evidence to the Supreme Court of intent to harm over a social media threat is incredibly hard. There is no way to be completely positive if the person is going to carry out their threat. They could easily claim that they were kidding or it was all in good fun and like Anthony Elonis, they were just expressing themselves.

Violent social media threats create a violation of freedom of speech and protection. These instigators are getting more freedom of speech than they should and nothing is being done about it. For example, Rosenberg contacted Twitter about racist bigots and asked the company to shut their accounts down or punish them, but still Twitter refused.

More action should be taken against these bigots, whether it is having police or websites investigate more thoroughly or creating bots to find these harassers, as Yair Rosenberg mentions in The Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter.

Instead of focusing on rectifying the problem, prison is focused on punishment. Yes- prison itself is where criminals go after being sentenced for their crimes, but should it be as bad as it is? After all, prisoners are human. The truth is, the prison system is an unjust way of reformation.
Outside the United States, specifically Norway and Sweden, reformation based prison systems are far more successful. The recidivism rates prove the other method works, with Norway having only 20% of criminals returning compared to 76.6%for the US.
In Norway, the prisons are nothing like those in this country. There are common areas- table tennis, aquariums, pool tables, and even darts. Throughout the halls are art from the inmates created in craft areas. There are no bars on the windows and open kitchens and spaces from low security to max. The guards are there to help the inmates, not to hurt them. Compared to the states, this seems like heaven.

Here, prisons are heavily dictated even if they are not max security. An inmate is confined to his cell or to small common rooms, and prisoners are constantly under scrutiny of guards and given little to no freedom. There is a strict regimen to follow and little exposure to the world outside of confinement. Even the architecture around them is bleak.
However, the biggest difference between America’s prisons and those in these countries is the way their residents are treated.
“Our role is not to punish. The punishment is the prison sentence: They have been deprived of their freedom. The punishment is that they are with us,” said Nils Öberg, Director-General of Sweden’s Prison and Probation Service, said in an interview with the Guardian in 2014.
“In closed prisons we keep them locked up for some years and then let them back out, not having had any real responsibility for working or cooking. In the law, being sent to prison is nothing to do with putting you in a terrible prison to make you suffer. The punishment is that you lose your freedom. If we treat people like animals when they are in prison, they are likely to behave like animals. Here we pay attention to you as human beings.” says British clinical psychologist Arne Wilson.

The notion of treating prisoners as human beings has positive effects both inside and outside of prison. Inside, there is recovery, outside, there is reformation.

Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of The Moon is one of the highest selling albums of all time. In 1973 it was revolutionary, from the deep lyrics to the amazing music. The group consisted of Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright. This release was a huge step in their musical careers. Even after forty years their music still holds up.

“Money” – “Is the root of all evil today.”

“Money”, the most successful and commercialized song on the LP, has some of the most quotable and used lyrics in pop culture. Dr. Acker, our principal, deemed it a “paradox.” It is a paradox in the sense that the song is about how people are all about money and commercialization and how commercialization and only caring about money is not necessarily a great thing. Funny thing is, that song made them their most money from any other song they made. Back then money was a source of many crimes and controversies. Money was the center of everything. It may not be the root of all evil but it is the root of most evil today. Back then there was Watergate and now there are wars over oil. Money is the root of conflict and conflict is something we do not want. Whether it is 1973 or 2017.

“Breathe(In the Air)” – “Breathe, Breathe in the air don’t be afraid to care.”
This lyric speaks against conformity and the pressures we face as humans. In society back then people had to conform. Peoplewere not allowed to be themselves. In some places it was not acceptable to be gay. A lot can be said the same in 2017, with high school peer pressure. Students these days are pressured into taking drugs and drinking underaged. Its very hard to avoid those things when in high school. Students are forced into acting certain ways or doing certain things and not being able to be themselves. So, the lyric tells us to just breath and not be afraid to care what others think.

“Brain Damage” – “You shout and no one seems to hear’
This ninth song on the LP is about individual struggles. The song speaks of the decline of a man slowly losing his mind. The lyrics plainly show us that his reality is fleeting. People today still deal with problems like this. They seek to reach out and nobody is there to help. In our society today it is hard for people to reach out and seek help or come out with their problems. Kids in high school are so stressed with school and other kids at school. Acting up is a clear sign of being overstressed or overworked, but most parents don’t seem to see that. This was also a problem back then. People have not changed; they still seem to miss the signs of overstressing and even depression. People with problems shout and either people choose to ignore it or just can’t see the clear signs of these problems.

“Eclipse” – “And everything under the sun is in tune, But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.”
Now for this lyric the sun and moon are metaphors. The sun represents all that’s good in the world and the goodness in people. The moon represents all the bad in the world: crime, lying, greed. The media seems to only cover the bad and the good is hard to find. With Vietnam, inflation, and Middle East relations in the ‘70s, it seemed that there was no good around. The same could be said today with politics and war. Wether it is 2017 or 1973 the ‘moon’ seems to eclipse the ‘sun’. In 2017 it is very hard to find happy stories on the news. While stuff like mass shootings and robberies are needed to be reported on, we need more positive stories. The other day there was an Iranian Olympic gold medalist that auctioned his medal and donated that money to earthquake relief after Iran had their most recent earthquake. Stories like that should be in the news more. That stuff warms hearts and shows the greatness in humanity.

How would you like to be told that you couldn’t marry your partner? How would you like to be told that it’s wrong and you should like a certain gender based on your own? People all over the world suffer from hatred from others because of who they are. Some people don’t understand that you can’t chose who you fall in love with, it just happens.

Sometimes that isn’t always the case. Some people are scared to come out about their sexuality because of what others might think.

Gay marriage became legal in the United States in 2015, but protests and violence still happen. Couples are attacked physically and verbally on the streets because others can’t stand the idea of same sex marriage, but there are other reasons behind the riots and protests. Yes, progress has been made, but that doesn’t stop the critics from voicing their opinion.

On March 6, 2017 in North Carolina , a gay couple were on their way home when they fell asleep on a train. one partner, Phil Poole woke up from a punch to the face, and when he looked over his partner, Zbynek Zatloukal, he had already been knocked unconscious. Police are still looking for suspects.

The Bible states that a man and woman should get married and reproduce. That’s one main issue, because others don’t always have multiple views, just one. They don’t realize that it doesn’t matter who you’re with, but it’s how you feel.

So protesters march against gay marriage.

Critics also rage about transgender rights. They believe that people must stay in the body that a person is born into because that’s a given gender, but that’s not always the case.

A transgender woman was fatally stabbed in New Orleans in February of 2017. Police say she was dragged out of her car and stabbed to death. Just two days before, another transgender woman was shot in New Orleans in a shopping center. Police believe the killings were not related.

When a person is transgender,they realize they’re in the wrong body at a young age, some kids might ask why they have certain body parts or why they have to wear certain clothing. When they grow up, they can finally decide whether they are a boy or a girl or both or none at all.

Pride parade and Outfest are events that happen once a year. These gather everyone, LGBTQ community and heterosexuals, to find acceptance and understanding. This is a great way to share the love between sexualities and to get to know different people and understand where people come from.

A simple way to help the LGBTQ communtiy and haters would be for people who have problems with gays and transgenders by recognizing each other as human beings. People can overcome their differences and realize that we’re all human. This could change perspectives on the LGBTQ community.

“It’s cold today, global warming must not be real.” Many of us have heard this foolish argument before. However, despite such ridiculous allegations, numerous scientists agree that global warming is real, and humans are causing it. By definition, global warming is the slow heating of Earth’s surface, oceans, and atmosphere. Effects of climate change include rising sea levels, rising global temperatures, melting polar ice caps, increasing ocean acidity, and increasing extreme events.

The process of global warming begins as the Sun gives off solar radiation. Light colored surfaces, such as clouds and ice caps, radiate the heat back into space. Greenhouse gases trap the heat in the atmosphere, creating the greenhouse gas effect, which keeps the planet warm enough to be livable. Some carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is natural, but since the burning of fossil fuels, greenhouse gases are building up, causing more heat to be retained. According to the Natural Wildlife Federation, since the 1800s, coal, oil, and natural gas burning have emitted roughly 500 billion tons of carbon dioxide, half of which remains in the atmosphere and continues to warm our planet.

If we do not take precautions, global warming will destroy our planet.

Climate change dates back to the Industrial Revolution. Ever since we began burning fossil fuels, temperatures have been rising. In the past 100 years, the Earth has warmed by one degree Fahrenheit. In 2001 it was reported that by the year 2100 the Earth could increase by 2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit, making this Earth’s warmest period in 100,000 years. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing at a rate 100 times faster than when the last ice age ended. While a few degrees may not seem like a big deal, we cannot let these changes go unnoticed. If these trends continue, our planet will be uninhabitable sooner than we may think.

Moreover, deforestation is further worsening the effects of climate change. Trees and plants naturally absorb carbon dioxide and sunlight, helping to keep the planet cool. As we cut down trees, the carbon dioxide is left in the atmosphere, warming our planet.

Some may believe global warming is not real or a serious issue. Few scientists argue that carbon dioxide does not cause an increase in temperatures and is necessary for plant life. However, the Earth’s carbon dioxide levels are much greater than what is necessary for vegetation. They also say that our planet has a long history of warming and cooling patterns, and this trend is simply natural. Nevertheless, many points made by nonbelievers can be disproven. Critics are greatly outweighed by scientists that believe in global warming.

The human race has created this mess. If we do not take preventative measures and begin attempting to repair our actions, these patterns will continue and worsen. Reducing unnecessary energy consumption, capturing and destroying fossil fuels at their source by burying them under land and sea, using renewable energy sources, stopping deforestation, and changing our diets will make it possible to end this vicious cycle. This is our mess and no one is going to fix it for us. Earth is our home, it is up to us to protect it.

Are seasonal activities like pumpkin carving, apple picking, or even sledding on a cold winter day enjoyable to you? These things are all possible thanks to bees and their pollination. From April 2015 to April 2016, the United States lost 44% of bee colonies kept by beekeepers. When or if bees go extinct, many of us will suffer the loss of many crops and plants. A life without bees means a life without countless widely adored foods like avocados, almonds, coconuts, grapes, watermelon, cucumbers, and even drinks like wine and nut based milks. This ominous future reality can cause concern among the general public, but rapidly dying bees are not a concern of many. For instance, the same day bees were officially added to the endangered species list, the news was inundated with coverage on the Kim Kardashian robbery, leaving the bee articles in the dark.

While some people disagree on the rate at which bees are vanishing, it is almost impossible not to believe that they are at risk for extinction inevitably due to the disruption of their habitats. Many colonies of bees have lost their homes as a result of urbanization and common household pest-killing remedies. Though it is understandable to want bees as well as other potentially harmful insects away from a home where someone could be allergic, it is not wise to kill them, as this can affect the environment, and it currently is. As urbanization increases, the number of bees will unfortunately decrease. Left with nowhere to live, they will eventually die off.

Along with habitat fragmentation, bees are being killed due to specific bee killing pesticides. To thwart decreases of crops, farmers will spray large amounts of pesticides like Spectracide, Aldicarb, Methomyl, and Demeton; all ranging in levels of toxicity. For a long time the EPA denied such pesticides were actually toxic to bees specifically, but after the attention brought to the decreasing population, they admitted these chemicals were killing bees in attempt to get farmers to use alternatives to save them.

Though the bee population is plummeting, there are ways to hopefully reverse this trend. Bee- Safe lawn care is an organic lawn care company that uses all organic and nontoxic chemicals to fertilize and treat lawns. They also have organic ant and flea pesticides. Companies like this are making a conscious and consistent effort to increase the bee population while making chemicals safe for not only bees but the children and pets of the customers.

If you cannot afford an all organic lawn company, there are many inexpensive or free methods to help out your own bee population at home. When buying the bee’s most famous product, honey, be sure to buy raw honey from your local market. Buying local honey as opposed to the mass produced kind ensures the bees were being used humanely and safely by the beekeeper. You could also decorate your yard space with various vibrant flowers, but plant prairies rather than lawns. A lawn is not beneficial to bees because the plants that are actually beneficial to bees are cut too soon for them to get anything out of them. When planting that prairie, don’t be afraid to leave the weeds be! Weeds are a very good food source for bees and while they might not look the prettiest, your garden will benefit a lot more once there are more fruits, herbs, and flowers due to their increased population and health.

The next time you are enjoying some watermelon on a hot summer day or carving pumpkins in the fall, think twice about why these things are so abundant and how bees are behind much more than just honey.

On June 11, 2017, the citizens of the Island of Enchantment will go to the polls to vote on their future. Three options are on the table, and it can affect the course of American history. The people of Puerto Rico, whose political party alliances are held based on political status proposals, will decide their own fate.

Puerto Rico, a United States territory since 1898, is home to over three million Americans. An island approximately the size of Connecticut, Puerto Rico sits 1,150 miles from the Florida coast.

Support for statehood has steadily increased through past referendums, with 61% of people voting for statehood. Doubt was cast on this vote, leading to inaction by Congress and the newly-elected Governor of the island, a member of the party opposing statehood, the Popular Democratic Party. With the party supporting statehood, the New Progressive Party, in power following the 2017 election, the time is ripe for a strong push for statehood.

There are several important effects statehood will have on the island: economic, cultural, and political. In my opinion, statehood is necessary for the island.

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has recently filed for bankruptcy. After achieving statehood, the island should be able to find new funding and an economic boom from investors moving to the newly founded state.

Culturally, the island would remain largely unchanged, except those that have already moved to the contiguous 48 states would have a stronger connection to their people. Puerto Ricans would probably become more Americanized in some ways, but, as a United States territory, this has already happened in many ways.

Puerto Rico is widely expected by statehood opponents to be a democratic stronghold, but this is not true in many respects. The island is believed to be 60-40 democratic, and this could result in the island being a swing state in an American election. The people of Puerto Rico would also be able to vote for President in the event of statehood, as well as electing two senators and several representatives.

Those that oppose statehood voice several concerns. One concern is that the culture of Puerto Rico will die and become overly American. As a territory, Puerto Rico already has strong connections to the mainland, and this will not change either way. Another concern is that the proposed state would be too poor economically, hurting the United States. I would argue that its current economic situation is a result of their current political status, and this situation will change with statehood.

June 11 will be a deciding moment in Puerto Rican history, and there is only one smart choice to make. Vote statehood for Puerto Rico.

People all over the world are covered in tattoos and piercings, but did their body modifications affect their chances of getting a job?
Yes, certain industries allow tattoos and piercings to a an extent. But when it gets to be too much, they don’t take a second glance.
Avarose Serrano, a junior, said that she has a tattoo and would love to get more when she is older. She mentioned that her career choice should not be affected by her tattoos in the long run because she’s going unprofessional, but even then sometimes they do not consider you for the job. Ava’s tattoo has meaning of inner and worldwide peace. That should not be something to keeps someone from getting a job.
To working in an office tattoos must be covered. It is professional. But can someone be professional without covering up a tattoo?

Mr. Maiers, assistant superintendent for the district, explained that when hiring someone for the job, it is not always about appearance. “Certain jobs may tell you to cover up, like a Catholic school, that’s strictly policy,” says Maiers. While explaining his experience in interviewing candidates for jobs, Maiers explained that visible tattoos are not the problem, it is what they are and what they mean. It is a different story for piercings. Safety is the main concern for the teachers and students.
Certain jobs care about appearance, whether one looks professional or not. But anyone could look professional and be childish, and body modifications should not determine that.

Mrs. DiDonato, a guidance counselor at Ridley High School, has four tattoos and each has a significant meaning.
“When you get a tattoo, you get it for a reason,” says Mrs. DiDonato. Her most recent tattoo was for her kids, but she would not get any more unless something caught her eye.
Vans Warper Tour has a body modification tent. The people who run the tent ask people to sign a petition that allows tattoos and piercings to be accepted by all jobs. This is a big step in a positive direction because it gives people more job opportunities and it can help them find a long term career, not just a job.

Tattoos are trending more and more. Employers are becoming more comfortable with the idea of body modifications, but others are becoming more harsh. The only way to stop this is acceptance.

Some people see them as pests, some see them as important. No matter your opinion, bees pollinate 80% of the world’s plants, but they’re on the brink of extinction.

In 2014, honeybees began to die off at an alarming rate, and the population has continuously decreased since. After extensive research and trials to save the bee population, this mysterious plague is now identified as Colony Collapse Disorder. This is caused when nearly all the worker bees die off, either from humans or poisons, and leave the queen bee without another generation of bees to soon be born. Without incoming worker bees, the colony dies out. Since 2014, over 30% of honeybee hives and colonies have gone extinct due to colony collapse disorder.

The largest reason that worker bees never come home to their queen is humans. Certain crop pesticides are designed to kill the furry insects that help the crop grow. Pesticides that kill bees, like Orthene, have become illegal in most countries, but they are still legal across America.

Humans are also a burden to the bee population because they view bees as useless pests. “The most common concern about honeybees is bee stings. Only 0.4% of Americans report an allergy to insect stings in the U.S., and almost none of these are caused by honeybees. In addition, less than 1% of the U.S. population is at risk of systemic reaction to stings by honeybees. Severe reactions from the sting of any one insect in a year are 1 in 5,555,556. The chance that someone will be hit by a car is 59.3% higher,” rports JustFood.org. Out of fear of being stung, humans constantly kill bees for their own peace of mind.

Bees are responsible for many of our favorite foods. When the day bee extinction arises, humans can bid farewell to avocadoes, apples, mangoes, and 90 other kinds of crops that humans eat and love.

As well as swatting bees and killing them with chemicals, global warming also plays a role in the extinction of bees. Due to global warming, flowers now bloom earlier in the year. When honey bees come out of hibernation, flowers have already bloomed and bees have less time to pollinate them. This is yet another way that humans contribute to the death of bees.

Overall, the fate of bees is in the hands of mankind. If humans are too ignorant to change their selfish ways of living, they will lose an alarming amount of crops, and potentially risk extreme famine.

“Proponents of a higher minimum wage state that the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is too low for anyone to live on; that a higher minimum wage will help create jobs and grow the economy; that the declining value of the minimum wage is one of the primary causes of wage inequality between low- and middle-income workers; and that a majority of Americans, including a slim majority of self-described conservatives, support increasing the minimum wage.” This quote was pulled from the editors of the procon.org webpage, a site that frequently discusses controversial topics.

Many working class Americans strongly disagree with the current minimum wage laws, more commonly with how low the federal minimum actually is.

At the moment, the lowest wage a business can legally pay an employee is $7.25 an hour.

Even if an employee was to work at least forty hours a week, his monthly pay would only be $1,160, which equals an annual salary of roughly $13,900. People who have children, for example, or are enrolled in college, find that this annual wage is not nearly enough to cover the costs of daily life. Overall, many would concur that feelings toward the current minimum wage laws our country has set in place are mostly negative, with some exceptions.

It is extremely difficult to survive in this economy making such a meager salary. Those in poverty, which is roughly forty-three million Americans, already have severe complications with providing for their families, and can usually only find jobs that pay minimum wage which does not suffice for an annual income. Minimum wage reveals the clear line between the poor and middle-class, a clear indication of the inequality issue in our country.

Another issue related to minimum wage is how our current president, Donald Trump, feels about the issue. When asked what he thinks about raising the federal minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour, he simply believes that those types of decisions should be left for the individual states to deal with. The problem with that is if minimum wage is raised or lowered at the choosing of the states, this could greatly affect the poverty levels in the country. States such as Georgia would legally be able to pay employees as low as $4.25 an hour.

Americans who believe that minimum wage is a reasonable hourly rate, mainly agree because most teenagers work minimum wage jobs. $7.25 an hour is decent enough for someone with no bills, children, or other major responsibilities. When considering these factors in an adult’s life, they would generally agree that minimum wage is not acceptable.

The overall solution to the minimum wage issue in our country is trying to be disputed through a number of suggestions from American citizens. Raising the federal wage to at least $11.00 an hour seems like a change that could be beneficial to our country as a whole, but may lead to excessive tax issues in the near future.

Raising the minimum wage would solve many issues including lowering poverty rates, creating more jobs, helping the inequality issue in our country, and improving the economy overall. While the discussion of tax increases and how raising minimum wage would affect the wealthy such as business owners, our government needs to find for a resolution that will benefit all and not some.